Testimony begins in 2012 Palermo dog attack trial

Oroville >> Jurors saw a 10-year-old boy recount what happened when his great-grandmother was attacked by two dogs in May 2012.

Anthony Shoemaker testified Monday he was on the porch of Virginia Lorusso's Shela Court house in Palermo as Lorusso went to check on several trees on May 21, 2012. He saw two dogs come from the neighboring property of Chic Gordon and begin biting and scratching Lorusso.

"The pit bulls jumped over the fence and attacked my grandma," Shoemaker said.

Lorusso started running from the dogs, a 70-pound pit bull named Gus and a 45-pound Queensland heeler named Shane, but fell in the orchard. She screamed as a dog bit her on her leg and ankle. The heeler scratched Lorusso, Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker went inside the house to call his mother and 9-1-1 for help. While he was making the phone calls, he saw Gordon at the fence trying to call the dogs off. She was unsuccessful and had to go around the fence to get to the animals.

"She grabbed the dogs and put them somewhere," Shoemaker said.

Lorusso was injured on her right ankle, left leg and right arm. Deputy district attorney Kennedy Rizzuto showed the Butte County Superior Court jury a couple of photos depicting how severely Lorusso was bitten.

Gordon, 56, is on trial in Butte County Superior Court with Theodore Jason Scherbenske, 57. Gordon is charged with a felony count of allowing a vicious animal at large while Scherbenske is charged with a felony count of being an accessory after the fact.

Gordon's son, Ruben Cambra, 34, is also charged with allowing a vicious animal at large, but his criminal case was suspended after a doctor determined he wasn't mentally competent to stand trial.

Rizzuto called Shoemaker as the prosecution's first witness following opening statements.

Recounting the aftermath of the attack, Shoemaker said Gordon came back and received permission from Lorusso to get towels from inside the house. Gordon used the towels to put pressure on Lorusso's wounds.

Dog taken from site

When Shoemaker went back outside he saw Scherbenske and Cambra get into a pickup with Gus in the back. The truck left quickly, like Scherbenske pressed hard against the pedal.

During cross-examination, Gordon's attorney Philip Heithecker had Shoemaker estimate how far he was from Lorusso by having Heithecker stand at the approximate distance. The lawyer used a tape measure to determine they were about 52.5 feet apart.

Scherbenske's attorney Eric Ortner asked Shoemaker about making the phone calls and if it was dark when he saw the truck drive away. Shoemaker said it wasn't dark.

Paramedic Captain Chip Schuenemeyer testified his medic unit was responding to the dog attack when they were passed by a white pickup about two to three minutes before arrival. The ambulance was traveling at about 50 mph and Schuenemeyer estimated the pickup was going at about 75 to 80 mph and he quickly lost sight of the vehicle.

When the ambulance pulled onto Shela Court, the captain saw a similar vehicle leaving. Under cross-examination, he acknowledged he couldn't determine who the driver was or if there was anything in the back.

Blood found on collar

Michael Hicks, of the Northwest Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, testified about recovering the pit bull from Cambra's Beech Street residence a day after the attack. The dog was impounded at the SPCA where Hicks and other staff worked to remove Gus' dog collar. Hicks said there was blood on the collar and on the animal.

Jurors saw the video of the collar removal. Gus barked during the entire encounter and Heithecker noted when the dog defecated. He backed up as staff tried to put control collars on him, but he would also lunge at times.

During opening statements, Rizzuto said the blood from the collar tested as likely being from Lorusso. Heithecker countered, saying it was unknown how the blood came to be there.

Heithecker said it was up to the jury to decide which dogs attacked Lorusso. In addition to Gus and Shane, Lorusso had an older Australian shepherd named Misty.

The defense attorney also said there was no evidence that the dogs were dangerous or vicious under the law prior to the incident.

Ortner said Scherbenske's case was a matter of no good deed going unpunished as the defendant left work to pick up the dogs. He said the defendant wasn't trying to obfuscate the case and has cooperated with police.

Testimony is scheduled to continue Thursday. Gordon and Scherbenske remain out of custody.